#TrueNews : Coca plant production reached record levels in 2017 in Colombia !

Colombia's coca plant production reached record levels in 2017.

Production of coca, the plant used to make cocaine, rose to its highest level
ever in 2017, despite billions of dollars spent by the U.S. government to
eradicate it, according to a report from the United Nations Office on Drug
Control.

An Colombian antidrug policeman escorts workers during an eradication operation at a coca-leaf plantation near San Miguel, in southern Putumayo province, August 15 2012.REUTERS/Fredy Builes

Coca cultivation in Colombia rose again in 2017, though the increase was lower than past years.

The US government also connected increased production to increased cocaine use in the US.

Colombia's president-elect is expected to pursue more aggressive security and counter-drug policies.

More than $10 billion has been spent on Plan Colombia, but few positive
results have been seen.

Between 2000 and 2006, the amount of cocaine coming from Colombia into the
United States increased, although heroin production was reduced by 50 percent,
Foreign Policy reported.

According to a White House report published in March, between 2007 and 2012,
cocaine from Colombia decreased by about 50 percent, but has surged since then,
reaching pre-2006 levels by 2015 and increasing by about 60 percent since then
until surpassing pre-Plan Colombia began production levels.